Because I'll wait for you
by sherlocks-skeletal-warlock
Summary: "1914. My 551st life. The time I went to war." Merlin tell us of the time he joined the army and took part in World War 1. There he met a friend. An old friend whom he'd been waiting for for 9000 years...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay so here is my first Merlin fic… hope you like it!**

_This is Merlin present narrating _**if that was unclear**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

Chapter 1

_The date is the 21__st__ of September 1914. I have been waiting 9000 years for Arthur's return but still nothing. Having had to wait for so long, I have grown accustomed to a particular lifestyle of travelling all around the countries now known as Britain. I would live in one place for a while but then I'd been killed and I would wake up on the shores of Avalon, which always seems to be waiting for me. Then I'd go somewhere else; live a different life until I died. Starting always at the age of 19, I would never make it to 30. Seemingly, I just live too reckless a lifestyle but I don't really care anymore. I have seen every age of man since Arthur's death and I have lived thousands of lives. My appearance would change sometimes but I always keep my name for that is who I am. I am Merlin Emrys and this is the story of my 551__st__ life._

…

I woke up as usual on the beach next to the Lake of Avalon. My hand went to my heart, relieving the last moments of my last life. _(This time I had drowned, a man whom I had annoyed throwing me into the Thames. You may ask, why didn't I use my magic? Truth is, my magic hasn't returned for that sort thing; I believe that it will return when Arthur does. But back to the story.) _I looked down into the still waters. My appearance had not changed this time; same high cheekbones; same bright blue eyes and the same shock of unruly black hair. My clothes were simple but up to date.

"Coventry, 1914. Here I come." After catching the train to Coventry, I wandered around the city so that I could get a feel for the new place. There was an advert for lodgings up a street called Dragons View and I took that as a good omen. I walked up to the house, feeling the change that I had stuffed in my pocket. _(Magic is a wonderful thing. I always have correct change for the time period in my pockets. Not lots but enough for a short while) _I knocked on the door and a kind-looking elderly woman came to it.

"Hello," she said cheerily.

"Good morning. I noticed that you have lodgings for a reasonable price, so would you consider me to be a suitable lodger?" I asked, rather formally. _(I had learnt the hard way that formality got you everything)_

"What's your name, dear?"

"Merlin, ma'am. Merlin Emrys," I replied.

"And how old are you, Merlin?"

"I'm 19." The woman smiled. She held out a hand and I shook it.

"My name's Rosie Stewart and I would be very happy to have you as a lodger." I beamed, thanked Mrs Stewart and came inside with her. After being shown all around the house, I was shown my room.

"It's not much…" said Mrs Stewart.

"But it's home." I completed for her. She smiled and left me. I sat down on the bed, looking around at the sparsely decorated room. There was an old oak wardrobe sat on the back wall that took up most of the room but I liked it. It reminded me of Arthur's dresser in Camelot. Also, there was a wooden chair next to it and on that chair sat a chest _(The chest follows me; always appearing where I am. It contains memories, almost literally) _I opened it and drew out Excalibur. _(I had taken it from the lake after Camelot had fallen) _It shone like it had been created yesterday, the runes still glowing faintly in the fading light. I placed it on my bed, allowing the memories to wash over me. Next, I brought out a piece of Athuisa's egg which glimmered like a lilac evening sky, dotted with stars. I took out memory after memory; Arthur's cloak, a shield with the Camelot crest of arms on it, seven medals for services to the country _(Seven stories that do not need to be told here) _and last of all, the lucky rabbit foot Gaius gave to me when I went to swap my life for Arthur's. I stroked it slowly, allowing a couple of scalding tears to roll down my cheeks before I packed up all of the memorabilia. Breathing hard, I composed myself before leaving my room.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry this has taken so long! Been really busy. Here's chapter 2! Apologies for any military terms incorrectness.**

**Disclaimer: I own… none of Merlin. Or much else**

Chapter 2

I had been living with Mrs Stewart for nearly 3 months when I saw the posters. 'Your country needs YOU' they proclaimed and as my sense of valour and duty was ever intact, I decided to sign up for the war effort. I may not have looked strong but I'd had years of weapons practice _(First thousand years or so, I didn't go very far and spent a lot of time alone practicing) _and I was stronger than I looked. I passed all the tests with ease and was awarded the title Captain Merlin Emrys which was nice. _(I had never been a Captain before. Sir, Earl, Lord, General, Magician, Alchemist etc. etc. etc. but never a Captain) _I was sent over to France along with four other Captains, ready for an advance on the German troops. Shaking hands with the General as we left, Captain Hudson and I got onto the same boat. Captain Hudson was a young good-looking man, aged about 24. He had bright green eyes and unruly black hair which framed a smile that could have brightened anyone's day. I liked him.

"Merlin!" he yelled. "Ready t' 'ake on those Germans?"

"You bet, buddy!" The ship shifted forward and we both grabbed hold and gazed out into the dark horizon. When we reached the shore, we were told to go to the Field Marshall's office. Field Marshall Brown was a tall, thin man with a riotous greying beard and sharp fast eyes that sparked with life. He walked with a slight limp, obviously owing to previous front line military service. He paced up and down in front of us, making us nervous. Eventually, he stopped pacing and glared at us all.

"This is war, boys. We want this over by Christmas so there is no time for messing around. You're not kids anymore; you're Captains in the British army! Deal with it and everything that anyone throws your way! It's your job to look after these men and get them in line. Anything happens within your ranks, it's up to you to deal with it. Nobody's gonna help you out here, sonny Jim, so get your head straight now! Any questions?"

Silence smothered the room. The four of us stood stock-still. Field Marshall Brown nodded and gave each of us a piece of paper.

"Your troops. Your family now so look after them." I read the names of the privates who had been assigned to my care and an overwhelming feeling of responsibility crushed me. We were dismissed and a soldier showed Captain Hudson and me to our camps. _(The camps were next to each other) _I nodded to him as we split up. All 100 of my men were lined up and I took a breath in. They were all looking to me for guidance… and I would give it to them.

"This war cannot go on forever. We can put an end to this devilry once and for all. Don't ever forget who your friends are because out here, they're all you've got. Each one of you should call the others friends and I will have no arguing here. You're all brothers now and I am one of you too. We can survive this war if we stick together! Yes, we may be only 100 men and yes, the Germans may outnumber us but we have pride in our country and our friends. So when we fight, we fight not for ourselves or because we're told to, we fight for Britain! We fight for the King! But most of all, we fight for freedom!"

"For freedom!" they echoed, punching the air. "For freedom! For freedom! For freedom!"

I grinned, impressed with my men. When the euphoria had died a little, I set up a guard duty rota and told the other men to get some rest. Dismissed, the men went about their jobs without complaint and I retreated to my bunk. I sat on my bed and thought. I thought about Arthur and how I had spent 9000 years just waiting… waiting for him. But now I was doing some good. _(I had done good stuff before but it didn't seem quite as realistic as facing machine guns alongside equals) _There was a knock on the door and Captain Hudson entered.

"Joe," I greeted him warmly. "What's going on?" Joe looked back towards the door with a slight smile.

"You go' 'em all fired up. Whatcha do?"

"Speeches, my dear friend. Just give them a good speech and they'll listen to your every word." Joe pursed his lips.

"But I can' make speeches. I go' stage frigh'," he complained.

"Then lead by example! Put yourself forward and make sacrifices. So long as you don't get killed. You've the only friend I've got…" I trailed off.

"Don' cha worry. I'll be around much longer than ya think kiddo"

"You better be." Joe smirked and left but as he did so, he called over his shoulder,

"Oi, Merlin! General wan' ya tomorro. 8:30 on the do'."

"Got it!" I yelled back. I waited for a couple of seconds, then stuck my head out of the door and asked the nearest solider in my troops to come over. He trotted over.

"What's your name, son?" I asked.

"Robert, sir. Robert Clarke."

"Well, then Robert. I would like you to stand guard outside my door tonight and wake me at 7:30 if I'm not already awake. Got that?"

"Yes sir. Thank you for ch-" I raised a hand.

"It's fine, Robert. Oh, I don't let anyone in unless it's an emergency."

"Will do, sir."

"Goodnight Robert."

"Goodnight sir." I got into the bunk and allowed myself to drift off into oblivion.

I awoke at 7:30 to sound of Robert knocking on the door.

"Sir? Sir, it's 7:30."

"Thank you, Robert," I said groggily. "Go get some sleep."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir." I heard him walk away and then I got myself ready to meet the General.

By 8:15, I was ready and I began the longish trudge to the General's office. Unusually, I was the only person there except his secretary-like figure. The man took one glance at me and nodded to the door.

"The General will see you now." I walked into the room quietly, awaiting instruction from the tall, well-built blonde haired man that stood with his back to me at the other side of the room.

"Name?" his voice was deep and commanding, clearly that of a young man but one who is used to handing out orders.

"Captain Merlin Emrys, sir." I snapped to attention as the General turned around. His cobalt-blue eyes seared into mine and I gasped slightly.

"Arthur?"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here's chapter 3! Enjoy everyone**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin**

Chapter 3

The General started slightly and frowned.

"How do you know my name?" Then it hit me. He didn't remember anything. Immediately, I covered my surprise. I stood up straighter and looked confused.

"Sir? I do not, sir." Arthur frowned at me, his brows knitted in confusion but obviously, he had better things to talk about. He took me to a table containing a map and laid out our attack plan. Captain Hudson and I would take our troops forward whilst Captain Smith and Captain Morhange attempted a side-attack. This annoyed me as our troops were, in all honesty, a distraction which would be very costly but I knew better than to argue with Arthur.

"You have a week to get ready. We're still waiting on information from our scouts to see if this works or not. Questions?" Arthur said curtly.

"One. Why are you briefing us separately?"

"To confuse them. If the German scouts see four Captains entering separately and four entering together, they will assume that the four that entered together, went for briefing on attacks whereas they will assume that the separate ones are not there for briefing." I nodded, seeing the sense and the cunning of the plan. Yeah, I doubted that it would work but, it was worth a try.

"Dismissed," Arthur said and just before I left, he called out, "Oh, Captain Emrys? I don't need to remind you to only tell your troops, do I?"

"No sir," I replied. I left the office, walking out fast so that the shock didn't hit before I had reached my base. As I reached my camp, a tall muscular man joined me.

"Captain Emrys," he nodded.

"And who are you?" I asked _(Of course, I knew who it was but I learn and adapt quickly)_

"Private Percival, sir." I grinned and decided that if I wanted to gain my men's trust, I was going to be unorthodox about it.

"Percival," I said, pretending that I had never heard the name before. "Well, I'm, going to be really unorthodox about getting to know my troops so, I may as well start here. Take me to see your friends." Percival frowned, bemused.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"I want to get know my troops and so I'm going to talk to them and get to know them as friends rather than just yelling at them. I don't believe that yelling really works all that well." Grinning joyfully, Percival took me to meet 4 of his friends. A smile broke out on my face when I saw them and they immediately snapped to attention.

"At ease, soldiers. Names?" The oldest stepped forward first, raising his head slightly, which caused his coppery-brown locks of hair to fall awkwardly over his shoulders.

"Private Leon, sir." I shook Leon's hand and instructed him to sit down. The others introduced themselves as Privates Gawain, Lancelot and Elyan. We all sat around a small fire that Percival started and I couldn't help thinking that it was like we were back in Camelot after a hunt or a ride and we were just sitting down for some dinner. I noticed that Lancelot was a lot more relaxed with me but I ignored it and just talked with my friends. _(I never knew anyone like the knights in all my years and it was wonderful to see them again) _At about 12:30, we made a mutual decision to all get some sleep but as I left, Lancelot caught my arm. His dark eyes seared into mine and I knew that we needed to talk. I dragged him to the side, out of anyone else's earshot.

"Merlin," he said, beaming.

"You remember?" I asked, astonished. He nodded and then looked melancholy.

"But none of the others do. Why is that?" I rubbed a hand over my tired face and contemplated this new bit of information.

"You died as a sacrifice to the spirit world. Your death was from pure magic, unlike Gawain's, Elyan's and Arthur's which were all from enchanted objects or animals." Lancelot sighed slowly.

"How did they die?" I winced but he had a right to know.

"Elyan was stabbed with a sword enchanted to fight on its own. Gawain died from torture by the Nathiar Serpent and Arthur died from… a wound from a sword forged in a dragon's flame. Not Excalibur," I added, seeing the horrified look on Lancelot's face.

"And Leon and Percival?"

"Old age took Leon and Percival died of a sword wound about fifteen years after you died," I explained.

"And you?"

"Well," I frowned. "That's complicated. Every time I die, I am reincarnated. I return between 6 months and a year later, depending on how I died. But I never reach 30."

"So you've lived for, what? 9000 years, reincarnating all the time?"

"Yeah. This is my 551st life." Lancelot looked slightly shocked and I smiled tiredly. Shaking of his shock, Lancelot said,

"You look like hell, Merlin. Get some sleep."

"Yes, sir," I said sarcastically. He winked at me as we walked off in different directions.

"Oh, Merlin?" Lancelot called. "Is Arthur here?"

"Yes. But he doesn't remember either."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here's chapter 4! Enjoy**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin**

Chapter 4

Over the week before the attack, I got to know all of my troops rather well and this pleased me. I had kind of taken Robert Clarke under my wing as he was only 15 but had signed up anyway. _(I did not mind how old they were because it showed how much they wanted to fight for what was right. I still regret letting them go into battle though) _But the day was here. Arthur had called us together, Captains Hudson, Morhange, Smith and me, and told us that we would advance at 10 hours. It was now five to ten and my troops were lined up behind me, prepared for battle. I nodded to Joe who was stood about 10 feet away in front of his troops.

"Ready?" he mouthed. I just nodded and loaded my gun. Watching the seconds tick away, I clenched my fist and raised it above my head. Ten o'clock came and I yelled,

"ATTACK!" My troops mingled with Joe's as we charged over the top. I scurried forwards, luckily dodging the bullets which fell so many other men. Opening fire, I roared like Athiusa and watched without pleasure as the troops stopped firing. After that, it all became a blur, a blur of yelling and firing and screaming. A blur of death and pain until we had taken about 14 feet and Arthur called for us to cease firing, to find those who may still live._(Arthur, as a General, had not taken part in the attack and for that I was grateful.)_ I checked all of the bodies nearest to me and my heart rose to my mouth as I saw Elyan lying in a pool of his own blood. Rushing over, I turned him so I could see his face but I was too late. The bullet had gone straight through his heart and his dark brown eyes were glassy and unseeing. I thought of his mother and father back home, which would get a letter in a month or so telling them the news and of his sister Gwen that he had spoken so highly of. _(I did not know that Guinevere had been reincarnated.) _Slowly, sorrowfully, I closed his eyes and moved on. Nearby, lay a dark-haired man whose breathing was haggard but still existent. I knew what a death rattle sounded like and if that wasn't one, then I was a king. I hurried over and turned him on to his back. It was Lancelot.

"Lancelot," I breathed. "Hold on. Please." Lancelot smiled slightly and gasped,

"Merlin… you know, I can't." I grasped his hand.

"Come on, Lance! You can't die on me. Not again…"

"Merlin. Save, Arthur." Lancelot's breathing worsened. "And thank you… for all the memories."

"No. Don't you dare-" I began but Lancelot smiled one last time and fell still. I screwed my eyes shut and shook with silent sobs as Lancelot lay dead in the ground at my feet.

"No. No. Please," I wept and everything went blurry. Feeling a pair of strong hands on my shoulders, I curled into the man who stood above me. I felt the hands lift me up and I allowed the welcoming blackness to take me from my sorrow.

I woke up in my bunker. Confused, I sat up to quickly and the room span.

"Shhh. Lie back," came a familiar deep voice. Doing as per instruction, I blinked repetitively to clear my vision of the black spots. Percival sat next to me and behind him, with his back to me, stood Arthur. He turned on his heel, nodded to Percival and held my gaze for a second before disappearing out of the room. I looked questioningly at Percival, who sighed deeply.

"The General carried you from the battlefield after you… broke down, sir. You've been out for 6 hours and General Pendragon has not left this room. The men are unsure what to think, sir."

"He hasn't left?" I asked, disbelieving.

"No sir."

"I told you, stop calling me sir," I said absentmindedly. "Who is dead? How many from our troops?"

"Just ten. Jack Spark, Harry Carter, Kevin Holmes, George Potter, John Smith, Liam O' Brian, Tom Beaumont, James Roberts… Elyan and Lancelot," Percival's voice tailed off at the end as he remembered his dead comrades and friends. I nodded and raised my hand to my head. Breathing slowly, I fought back the tears and swung my legs round. I stood but I stumbled and Percival caught me.

"Gather the troops." He left with one last salute. I followed him out and went to the most open area where I addressed my troops. Shaking slightly, I viewed them mercifully. Many of them had been crying but now they held their heads high and put on brave faces.

"We all die in the end," I began. "You, me, everyone. But we must not despair. Yes, we lost Lancelot today. And Elyan, Harry, Jack, John, Liam… but they're still with us! In here!" I indicated my heart. "Because we'll remember them! And if we get out of this horrible mess, we'll tell our children and our grandchildren what they died for. They died fighting! For the King! For the Country! For freedom!"

Again, my troops echoed me, albeit more subdued. As I walked off, a phrase popped into my head.

"Ducle et decorum est pro patri mori. It is sweet and fitting to die for your country."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry this is such a short chapter, I've been busy watching Supernatural *Slap hand for being a bad person* Anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin. That is the BBC's… unfortunately.**

Chapter 5

Time passed slowly in the trenches. Over the weeks following the battle, I reported to the General a few times, talked to my troops and mingled with them. But most of all, I painted. I had relic, a painting set that I had been given in 1880 by a friend of mine, the Earl of Newbury and a sketch book. I spent hours creating perfect likenesses of the ten dead men to send back to their families. Lancelot was the hardest because his eyes were so difficult to re-create and I knew that my painting on him was purely personal as he had no family, no one to miss him if he never came back. Just like me. _(My life is exciting and wondrous, beautiful and full but most of all, crushingly lonely.) _My eyes glowed in the faint lamplight as I painted the long dark hair and the deep dark eyes of a young woman. Her smile was sad but happy and her eyes spoke of a thousand terrors and of a cage. Locked away, shunned, thrown out for being a freak and I knew her. I loved her.

"Freya." My tears dropped slowly onto my lap, away from the painting.

"Captain Emrys, sir?"

"Yes, Robert?" I raised my head. Little Robert Clarke lowered his and said,

"The General says we're going over the top again tomorrow." I nodded. Arthur had given me the plan three days previous and I had just been waiting for the go ahead.

"Get some rest, Robert. We attack at first light."

"Yes sir," Robert said but just before he left, he turned. "Merlin? I'm scared, Merlin." I could see the raw terror in his eyes. He knew, just I as did, that we would be very very lucky indeed to survive this attack. I stood, walked over and hugged the boy who was only 15.

"It's okay, Robert. I'm scared too," I said quietly. "In all my many years, I have never been afraid to die until now. I just wish… that he would recognise me."

"Who, sir?"

"The General. He was… is my best friend, my king and my only hope. And he doesn't even recognise me." _(I had told Robert my tales and even if he was sceptical, he loved them.) _

"He'll remember before the day is out. And, hopefully, I will be there to see it."

"You will, Robert Clarke," I vowed. "I will not let you die." Robert grinned tearfully.

"And I will not let you die, sir. You are the only friend I've ever had and I'm not going to lose you."

Dawn broke and my soldiers were lined up. I nodded to Percival, Gawain and Leon, the last of the knights and waved over to Joe Hudson. Joe raised his chin and smiled.

"Together?" He asked. I grinned.

"Liberté, égalité, fraternité ou la mort!" I replied.

"Freedom, equality, brotherhood or death!" Leon echoed. And we charged into the machine guns. I ducked and dived as Leon fell next to me.

"LEON!" roared Percival and as he knelt to close his best friend's eyes, he was shot dead.

"NO!" yelled Gawain and we dropped to the ground in desperation. I crawled over to where Percival and Leon lay and closed their eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I'll miss you, more than I did these past 9000 years." Gawain's eyes clouded.

"Wait… 9000 YEARS? Who the hell are you!?"

"Merlin," I said simply. "Merlin Emrys." Then, as if something had just clicked, there was recognition in Gawain's eyes.

"Merlin…" he breathed. "Skinny little Merlin who was manservant to King and my best friend… how could I ever forget you?" He embraced me there and then, as the bullets whirled around us.

"You remember?"

"Every single bit." My own, slightly scary grin appeared and I said,

"Well, Gawain, let's face death side by side once again."

"You bet, buddy."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: THIS IS IT! I'm so so sorry about the despicable amount of time it took to finish this but I did it! Thank you to everybody who read this and reviewed or followed or favourited! I love you guys! Please enjoy and I hope the sappy ending makes up for everything else!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

Chapter 6

Guns. That was all I could think. The smell of gun smoke, the flash of the bullets and sound of the constant firing. Gawain ran beside me, shooting and swearing. I hadn't realized how much I had missed his hotheaded personality until he was beside me again. Before either of us could react, there was a huge explosion just in front of us and we were thrown apart. I clambered to my feet as the smoke began to clear. There was a figure ahead and like a lost child to a light in a wood, I staggered towards it. (_The thing I most regret even now) _The figure raised his gun and barked at me in German but before I could duck, he shot. I closed my eyes, waiting for the pain. But it never came. Instead there was a scream of "MERLIN!" and I was shoved to the side. Eyes flying open, I watched almost in slow-motion as the bullet that was meant for me smashed into the chest of my best friend, Captain Joe Hudson. I scrambled to my feet and grabbed Joe as he fell to the ground, red spreading from the gun hot wound. Glancing up, I saw that the German solider had fallen and we were in no immediate danger.

"Come on, Joe. I need you out here. There's nobody else." Joe's breath guttered in his throat.

"Merlin. You have… t' keep… fightin'. For me. Promise, mate."

"I promise, Joey. But don't you go dying on me then." That brought a smile to Joe's blood-stained lips. Before either of us could say anything else, Joe's eyes dulled over and his last breath rattled its way out of his mouth. He fell still in my arms. Shaking, I picked up my gun and staggered forward. The smoke was clearing slightly and I could see the German troops at the other side. Raising my gun, I fired and watched as they fell. But then they saw me and began to fire back and I took refuge in a crater hole. A few seconds later, the General slid down beside me. His blonde was muddy and his eyes shone fearfully, cuts on his face bleeding slightly but he was still my beautiful Arthur.

"Arthur!" I called and he looked over at me. Suddenly, for the first time, recognition and confusion glowed in his eyes.

"Merlin?" My jaw dropped.

"You remember?" He nodded and I grinned. _(My theory now is that the violence trigged a switch to flip in the mind, allowing them to remember Camelot. But it would have only worked if they had seen so much violence which is why Leon and Percival didn't remember but Arthur and Gawain did. Lancelot, of course, was a special case.) _

"Well then, my king, lets carry on saving the kingdom." He smiled and we climbed to the top of the crater. Just before we leapt over, Arthur turned to me and said,

"I missed you, Merlin."

"And I you, Arthur." And with that we charged.

Time became as difficult to measure as the amount of sand on a beach. We fired, ducked, dived, hid, ran and screamed over and over but nothing could stop us. We were close to the enemy lines when I spun around to find Arthur yelling,

"Look out!" Turning, I saw the sniper but it was too late. The bullet hit me hard in the chest and my knees buckled. BANG. The sniper keeled over and I fell into Arthur's waiting arms.

"Merlin! No, no, please. I just found you again," he said, tears falling freely from those cobalt blue eyes.

"Arthur," I gasped. "Go to the lake. I will meet you there."

"Promise me," he wept.

"I promise." I raised my hand weakly and stroked the side of his face. "I waited 9000 years for you, Arthur."

"Then I will wait however long it takes for you to return to me." I smiled but the pull of oblivion was too great. My eyelids fluttered shut and I allowed myself to let go.

Gasping, I woke up on the lake shore. _(Again. This bit is really dull and repetitive) _I got to my unsteady feet and looked around. The sun was setting and sitting hunched over on a nearby bench was the only person I wanted to see.

"Arthur!" I called, my voice groggy. His head shot up so fast I was very surprised he didn't injure himself.

"Merlin!" Before I could prepare myself, he was hugging me fiercely and I hugged him back.

"I waited for you. I never left, not in nine months. I just waited and slept and waited," he whispered in my ear.

"It's okay, Arthur, I'm here. And I'm never going to leave you again." He pulled back and cupped my face in his hands. One tear fell from his eye and he kissed me. Suddenly, my hands were in his hair and I was kissing him back. I felt whole and complete as stood, lips together, eyes closed in the auburn sun set. We pulled back together and I rested my forehead on his.

"I love you, Merlin."

"And I you, Arthur." We kissed again and this time it was all the unsaid things, all the fear, all the pain that had not been lost over the centuries. We were literally pouring our whole hearts and souls into this and nothing, especially not time, could tarnish that. Because I would wait for him. And he would wait for me. Time could not touch us now. We were together again at last.


End file.
